Sophie Turner Confirms ‘Game of Thrones’ Won’t Return Until 2019

Game of Thrones fans held slim hope the series’ final season wouldn’t sit out 2018 entirely, but Lady Sansa may have dashed the last of it. Star Sophie Turner seemingly confirmed that Game of Thrones Season 8 will bow in 2019.

HBO still won’t say for sure, but a Variety interview with Turner sees the longtime series star definitively stating “Game of Thrones comes out in 2019.” She also notes that Season 8 has “six or seven months” of production remaining, just as co-star Liam Cunningham had previously teased a summer wrap. Turner also offered a bit of insight on Sansa’s newfound independence:

It’s going to be tricky for her, because at the end of last season, she felt that she had everything set up. She had her family back together. They were in control of the North again. This season, there’s a new threat, and all of a sudden she finds herself somewhat back in the deep end. And without Littlefinger, it’s a test for her of whether she can get through it. It’s a big challenge for her, without this master manipulator having her back. This season is more a passionate fight for her than a political, manipulative kind of fight.

Oh well. Will 2018 prove a bitter winter without any Game of Thrones? Are we better-served stretching out the finale as long as possible? Stay tuned for the latest.